Students take charge in practical leadership tasks

Students from Business and Law took part in military tasks, dodging fake mines and solving problems to test out their leadership skills as part of their Business and Management course. This exercise gives them the confidence to lead new projects or tasks in their future business career.

The event in Ravelin Park was organised by Thunderer Squadron, part of the Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS), which gives officer cadets the opportunity to study a technical degree at associated universities like Portsmouth while undergoing their military training. This year the activities were organised by Captain Ron Dunbar RLC, who is studying Business and Management at the University while training the officer cadets.

The officer cadets announcing the group that worked best together

Students needed to work together and assign a leader from their group in order to successfully complete a series of tasks which tested a number of skills. These kind of tasks are frequently used by all three services of the Armed Forces, both in the selection phase and throughout training for assessment purposes.

Chris Futter, a student taking part in the event said: “I felt that the Critical Leadership task was very beneficial to my studies, the practical task helped me to utilise leadership skills in unique situations I had not encountered before. I did, however, struggle when being directed into a “pen” without being able to speak or take verbal instruction whilst blindfolded!”

The Degree Apprentices that took part: Tom, Jenny, Mia and Sally-Anne.

This year, for the first time, four of the University’s Degree Apprenticeship students took part in the training to demonstrate that they can take responsibility for people, projects and operations as evidence for their apprenticeship.

Mia De’Ath, an apprentice undergoing her Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) in Business Leadership Management felt that being under pressure helped them bring out their skills to succeed: “The event was a brilliant way to end our unit as the practical tasks put us under pressure to think on the spot. It really highlighted the natural leadership skills of individuals within our team and feedback from the officer cadets was also helpful for me.”

Andrew Stewart who is the University representative on the Military Education Committee and Unit Coordinator for the unit entitled ‘Critical Leadership’ was delighted with the enthusiasm by all the students who participated. He said: “When one student told me it was her first opportunity to lead a team it made it all worthwhile.”

To find out more about how you could learn leadership skills whilst at University search for military on MyPort.